


Fly me to the Moon

by Kayasurin



Series: Turn a Little Faster [3]
Category: Rise of the Guardians (2012)
Genre: Bunny has social anxiety, Developing Friendships, Developing Relationship, Parties are hard, Pre-Relationship, Protective Jack
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-04
Updated: 2018-01-22
Packaged: 2018-12-23 15:26:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 10,213
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11992560
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kayasurin/pseuds/Kayasurin
Summary: E. Aster Bunnymund really does want to attend the launch party, just not alone. Unfortunately, his usual companions are not an option this time. Which leaves him with the newest Guardian, Jack Frost, who he has a rocky relationship with.





	1. Chapter 1

For the past three weeks, Aster had been ignoring the cream coloured envelope sitting dead center of his kitchen table.

The envelope itself was inoffensive, a pleasing shade, expensive paper and gold-infused sealing wax holding it closed. The cursive that formed his name was so neat as to first appear artificial, and the Pookan glyphs he used for the most important of legal documents had been done correctly, down to the most minor of lines and arcs. No, the envelope was not the problem.

The contents, however, were another matter.

He already knew what was in there. It'd been discussed during the last meeting of spring spirits he'd attended, on the autumn equinox. Aster wasn't sure how the other seasons handled their duties, but spring spirits - those powerful enough, at least - met on the regular. Aster got out of most of them because he was old and, while Persephone was _de facto_ Queen of Spring, everyone knew Aster was the one supposed to hold the position. It got him a lot of leeway when it came to things like forced socialization... except for this one.

Acid churned with anxiety in his stomach. He _wanted_ to go, that was the thing. Persephone had arranged a viewing party for the first test flight of the first commercial shuttle for the first trip to the moon for civilians. Lots of firsts there, and a huge step if the humans could only get it right. And for the non-mortals, well!

Most spirits didn't give more than a moment's thought to the possibility of life out among the stars. Either 'aliens', or humans spreading out into space colonies. Why should they? Most of them, the powerful ones especially, were bound to the planet. Aster was too, now that he was a spirit. Sure, Pooka had straddled the line, the way elves did, between mortal and spirit, but he was fully spirit now, and spirit rules applied. No jaunts beyond Earth's atmosphere for him.

But for those who valued challenges overcome, ingenuity, learning - the seeds of new beginnings, even - well, those spirits were interested. And Aster...

Maybe, just maybe, everyone was wrong. The hope for his people was a tricky one, he had to nurture it so it didn't wither and die, but he also had to keep it practical, lest it pull a Kudzu and consume everything. This potential for further space flight was fertile soil for his hope. Because if humans spread out, well, Pooka had always been a friendly and curious species. The only time meeting a new people had backfired had involved those sentient plants, and it'd worked out alright in the end, anyways.

So yes, Aster wanted to go to the viewing party. Those of spring had to go, the invitation was merely a formality reminding everyone of the time and place. Those outside of the season, well, presumably they were given a choice to go or not.

It was just...

He snarled at himself, and swiped the envelope off the table. He went to wrench the wax seal off - and then froze. After a long moment, he tossed the envelope back onto the table, and stormed outside.

Only to hurry back inside. The party was tomorrow. He had to go. He had to check the time and place - he thought he remembered it right, but he wasn't sure. And he did want to go, he really did!

But... there was going to be a crowd.

Aster slumped down into the kitchen chair, and traced the edge of the envelope with a claw-tip. There was going to be a crowd, and the place would be full of people he didn't know very well. Or at all. And, well... Fact of it was...

He was going to stand out. The only animalistic spirit in the group, he was sure of it. The bloke who should've been the spring leader and wasn't. The Guardian of Hope and Children, the last Pooka, who stood ears above everyone else...

There'd be no back corner for him to hide in, and no way he could spend the time hanging around Persephone or Flora or anyone else he knew. The other Guardians wouldn't go, because they wouldn't be invited. And sure, Persephone wouldn't mind if he stuck near her, but _Hades_ would.

And after the launch would be dancing. Persephone loved to dance, loved to dance with her husband, loved watching other people dance while she caught her breath.

Aster hated dancing. And going alone, everyone would be trying to get at least once dance with him, just to say that they'd done it. And then he'd run out of excuses to stay off the dance floor, the people he'd refused would be hurt, the people he danced with would be upset because he _just couldn't stop stepping on peoples' feet_...

It'd be a mess.

Well. He'd have to open the envelope sometime, and he was rapidly running out of time. After all, depending on which side of the international date line he stood on, the party could technically be _today_ , not tomorrow.

He just really didn't want to. Even if he wanted to go, he really didn't want to.

Aster took a deep breath, ignored his churning stomach, and finally pulled the wax seal off.

 _You are formally invited,_ it began, and he scanned it for the date and location. A quick bit of mental arithmetic told him that it was tomorrow, based on the date line, afternoon local time, and he'd been a little off on the 'where'. Just by the width of a small European country or two, nothing major.

He flicked the embossed card back and forth against his finger-pads, and frowned. So he knew where to go and when. And it sounded exciting, Persephone had noted that they would be as close as they could safely go to the launch pad, a heck of a lot closer than any mortals would be. It'd be - he'd be able to see the engines fire on, count the rivets on the shuttle's side, even. It'd be great.

If only he wasn't going to be surrounded by strangers.

A lone word caught his eye as he flicked the card back and forth, and he stopped. Not on the front -

The back didn't have much written on it, but what was there, was enough. _E. Aster Bunnymund and Guest_. He supposed, when one's attendance was ordered, one didn't have to RSVP, which must've confused whoever had done up the invitation.

... And guest?

Aster studied the five words - okay, four words and one initial - written on the card's back as though there were instructions for disarming a ticking bomb there. And guest? He could bring a guest?

Relief made his hands a little shaky, and he put the card down before he could drop it. Someone he knew, liked, someone he could talk to, who'd stick with him and chase people off before they could even try dancing with him...

Well. That ruled out North and Tooth right there. Not that they'd mind, but North loved dancing. He loved it the way only an insane, insanely athletic Russian could, with high leaps, rapid spinning jumps, and aerobatic feats of balance and timing. Take North to a party, and normally he started the dance portion. He'd stick by Aster, he'd go without dancing, but he'd be a sad sack of misery the entire time.

As for Tooth, well... She enjoyed parties, but she didn't have a lot of patience with them. She wasn't a dancer, at least not the way North was, though she was good at it and never minded a quick spin about the floor. As long as her partner didn't mind the small cloud of fairies hanging about to bring orders back to their fellows, anyways. It was just, well... Any time Tooth went to a party, a fight inevitably broke out.

Sometimes it wasn't her fault, exactly, because Tooth didn't care about hierarchy or hurt feelings, and danced only with people she wanted to dance with. The spirit world might not have princes and dukes and countesses, but when the spirit that brought and controlled South African rains was favoured over a minor glacier god, well... fights broke out.

Other times, it was definitely Tooth's fault, since she threw the first punch. The reasons varied, but the end result never did. Brawls were only fun when they happened somewhere Aster wasn't, and he was listening to the stories over tea or something alcoholic. He'd been a soldier too long for bloodshed of any kind to appeal.

He didn't really want this party to turn into another brawl. Sure, he wasn't going to enjoy the social aspect, but he also didn't want to _add_ to that level of misery.

Sandy... maybe. If it wasn't in the middle of the day. If Sandy wasn't even more awkward in social situations than Aster was. Not because of anxiety, he didn't think, but it was a bit off-putting when the bloke you were chatting with dropped off mid-word and started sleeping. The more hectic things got, the faster Sandy dropped off, and from what Aster had heard, North's New Year's Bash always featured a snoozing dreamweaver from the first guest to the last.

So not Sandy. Bringing him would rather defeat the purpose of bringing a guest, after all. No conversation, no one to stand guard against the dancing.

For a minute, Aster stared down at the card, feeling utterly hopeless. There wasn't anyone else he felt comfortable asking to go with him, because other than the Guardians...

Wait. There was one more Guardian. Jack Frost. It'd been a year and a half since he'd taken the oath, and - first 'official' meeting aside - they were getting along. Not turning every conversation into a screaming argument, at least. But there was a huge difference between the monthly meetings at North's, and spending most of the day in each other's company, at a party.

... Still, it wasn't like he was spoiled for choice. He'd ask. Worse that would happen, Jack would say no, and he'd have to go to the party alone and dance with people he didn't know.

* * *

"You want _me_ to go to this party with you?" Jack eyed Aster sidelong, looking only mildly confused. It was a lie; Aster was getting good at figuring out when Jack was wearing an emotional mask. Granted, Jack was nearly always wearing said mask, looking attentive when bored, calm while angry, amused while hiding a broken heart...

If someone wanted to see Jack's real emotions play out, they had to either watch his hands, or surprise him.

Aster hadn't exactly surprised the winter spirit, but then again, neither had it been a predictable request. Jack was fiddling with his staff, rolling it between his hands, somehow making it slide up and down at the same time. So... curious, maybe, and cautious, but not immediately rejecting the idea, from what Aster could tell.

"Well, yeah. The others would be a disaster, and at least I don't know you'll start a brawl or fall asleep on people, or make marriage overtures without meaning to." North still didn't know how he'd charmed that Borasco, and no one was about to tell him. At least he hadn't actually had to go through with it.

"No promises about the brawl. Depends on the guest list." Jack planted his staff and leaned back against it, smirking. It was an honest enough expression, especially with his next comment. "Some guys in winter don't like me."

Aster shrugged. There were plenty of rivalries in the spirit world, after all. Even he had a few, starting with the Groundhog. And ending with the Groundhog. Mostly just the Groundhog, the bloke was a right arsewipe of a personality, with a face to match. "As long as you don't start it, the sack 'a bricks won't land on your head. Or mine. Anyways, attendance is mandatory for spring spirits. What're the chances anyone winter'll even show up?"

"Will Persephone be there?" Jack asked. Aster nodded, and Jack huffed, the sound at once amused and resigned. "Then Hades will be there, and that'll get at least a handful of winter spirits. Not many, though, Hades has less patience for politics than _you_ do."

Right, Jack was the Voice - and leader - of Winter. "If you go, will anyone -"

"Follow me? No. No one's out there looking to curry my favour, Bugs." Jack straightened up, and flicked his staff into his hands with a gesture Aster wanted to see a couple more times, just because it was so smooth and practiced. "Yeah, sure. When and where?"

Just like that? "Ah." He fumbled the invitation out of his belt pouch, but dropped it. A swirl of wind caught it and delivered the paper to Jack's fingers.

"Yeah, I can go there. Should probably beat the dirt out of my sweater, huh?" Jack handed the card back. "Gonna be a buncha fancy people there, right?"

"Define fancy," Aster said, and tucked the card away. "Uh, do you want to meet up somewhere first, or there, or, uh?"

Not for the first time, just the most recent, he could not make heads nor tails of Jack's expression or the way he held his staff. The winter spirit's regard was, well, calculating was his best guess, but without malice. "Actually," Jack said. "How about we both go, hit up North's for something to wear, something to eat, somewhere to take a bath, and then head over when the clothes are ready."

Aster took a moment to think about it. North's was - well, workshop aside, the personal quarters were pretty comfortable, and he made sure there were guest rooms for everyone. The style might not be something Aster preferred, and the colour scheme was a lot like walking through a jewellery box, but he could certainly put up with it long enough to eat, maybe take a nap, and -

Clothes, though?

"Well, yeah," Jack said, when Aster asked. "I keep meaning to ask his elves to whip me up some new pants." He held out one leg for inspection. His trousers were in a sad and sorry state, even Aster could tell that. From the knees up, the wool was tattered and fraying to bits of fluff, as threadbare as woollens could get. From the knees down, the pants were held together by twine wrapped and tied around Jack's calves. It looked like frost and fairy dust was keeping them on Jack's body, and relatively decent.

"There's always something else I have to do first, though, so I haven't yet. This is as good a reason as any. And if you go with me, they won't have time to make me an outfit like North's, so I'll end up with something I can actually wear." Jack looked amused, and for once, it didn't seem to be a mask. "And it'll probably confuse everyone used to you showing up naked."

"Naked!" Aster spluttered. "I'm not - I'm not naked, I have fur!" He folded his arms and shifted to stand half-turned away. The breeze, which had been nice in the humid, almost too-hot weather, was suddenly ruffling fur covering body parts that - well - would violate any PG-13 movie rating, he had to admit. So yes. Technically naked. But covered with fur. So it didn't count, really.

"Really?" Jack trailed his gaze up and down Aster's body, lingering about the hips. "Fine. Pockets."

"Pardon?" If Jack looked towards Aster's hips again he'd... flee, probably. Why hadn't he realized shedding his old, threadbare robes and not replacing them meant he'd be _naked_? Granted, back then the humans had been almost as hairy as he was, male and female both, and they certainly hadn't thought anything of running around starkers, but...

"Clothes. You can have a lot more pockets with clothes than just a belt." Jack pointed at the bandolier. "And clothes with pockets is more socially acceptable than just a belt. Blends in better, that sort of thing."

Aster scowled. "Now you're stretching." On the other hand... he was naked. He'd managed to somehow comfortably ignore that little fact up to this point, but now that Jack had made the observation...

Clothes didn't seem like that bad of an idea. Except for one thing.

"Anyways, humans haven't come up with materials that work with my fur. I either overheat, or have a whole-body itch." He lifted both chin and eyebrows, even though he didn't turn back to face Jack or unfold his arms.

"The elves made Tooth a... a dress? The fancy Indian sara... no..."

"Sari." Jack didn't know that?

The winter spirit glared at him. "Hey, I bring snow and frost, how much of that do you think India _gets_? First time I saw one of those was on a TV, and it's not like anyone called it anything. Well," he allowed, shifting from annoyed to thoughtful, "they might've, but I don't speak French."

"Fair enough. So the elves made Tooth a sari?"

"Yup," Jack said, popping the 'p'. It was annoying. Aster had no idea _why_ , but it _was_. Discomfort over nudity was quickly replaced by discomfort caused by wanting to punch Jack somewhere painful. Judging by Jack's grin, he was at least partially aware of Aster's annoyance. "Light, airy, breathable, drapes nice, doesn't get in the way of her wings... Compliment her on how the trim makes her eye colour pop during the next meeting, she said she'd wear it then."

Aster made a mental note to write that down soon, lest he forget. "Well..." Tooth's problems with clothing and fabric were even worse than his. Nothing like getting your feathers ruffled, the veins caught and pulled all out of order, by a badly woven linen or something. As for temperatures, well... small doses, she was okay, and her girls were even better, but she was as much a tropical bird as she was human.

"I'll take a look at what they're offering," he decided, since the other option was continuing to run around naked. He just barely hid a shudder. Not that his people had held any nudity taboos, as such, but most humans did. At this point, he'd spent more time around humans and their attitudes than he had around his own people.

It'd been alright until he thought about it. Jack shouldn't have said anything.

"Okay. So, tunnel? Or race?" Jack asked, hopping up to hover mid-air.

* * *

The arctic wind bit at Aster's ears and paws, less protected by his thick fur. It was winter Down Under, so he had his thicker coat in, but that wasn't saying much. He was a Pooka, not a rabbit, and certainly not an arctic hare.

"Shoo," Jack said, dropping down beside Aster. He waved at the air, and the wind - impossibly, in a way only spirits could manage - curved around them, leaving them in an almost warm bubble. "C'mon, let's get in. Why can't your tunnels connect directly?"

"Wards." And it would take too much effort and time to tweak things so only Aster could get through them. He'd looked alongside North and Ombric, and agreed. Shift one bit of the ward-spell, the rest of it would collapse, and creating a whole new one was a bit of a pain. It wasn't like he'd freeze to death in the short walk to the front door or anything, it was just... cold.

"Huh. So, how come the wards never kept me out?" Jack asked. He tiptoed along the top of a snow drift, without leaving so much as a footprint behind. "It was always the yeti."

"Windows and doors are meant to be opened," Aster said. "Tunneling up through the cellar, though... not so much." He shivered, and was glad as anything when a yeti pulled the door open before they'd even reached it. Having someone watching for visitors 24-7 seemed a bit of a waste, rather medieval, but the yeti had set it up after Aster had been left outside for a little too long, one too many times. No one had complained and the shifts were kept to reasonable lengths, and Aster wasn't the one in charge of whatever payment the yeti got anyways.

"Thanks," he said, and hurried through the door. Jack moved a little slower, but then again, Jack wasn't shivering fit to fall apart.

"Clothes will help with that, too," the cheeky brat said. He skipped out of Aster's reach, not that Aster was aiming to actually hit or anything. "C'mon, the sewing workshop is this way."

"How do you know?" The warmth was sinking back into his bones, and Aster stood straighter, walked easier.

"They have a window to the outside," Jack said, dry as the Sahara, or even the Gobi. "And they enjoy a bit of mischief, too," he added, more cheerful. "Don't know if you know this, but, uh, brownies, gifts... Pretty sure we don't want to send North's workforce away."

What? Aster puzzled that over for the short walk, and finally figured it out when they arrived at the sewing room. Warehouse. It was big and full of bolts of fabric, but compared to the workshop was relatively tiny.

He regarded the hat-wearing elves with new eyes, as Jack crouched down and explained what they were looking for. Brownies had been driven out of the homes they shared with humans with the advent of iron in every-day construction. They'd worked hard as anything for a dish of milk and loaf of bread a week, plus whatever else they could snitch on the side, but the moment anyone thanked them they scampered for months, years, or the rest of the human's life. It was part of their magic, somehow, not that Aster had ever been bothered to really look into it.

North's elves weren't shy the way brownies were supposed to be, but then, the workshop was full of yeti and spirits, no mortals. And those hats they wore covered everything but their hands, feet, and faces. They worked like mad, taking care of most of the cleaning, some of the cooking, and, it appeared, anything to do with textiles. And far as he could tell, they nicked whatever food they wanted and as long as it wasn't North's personal plate of cookies, no one stopped them, either.

In fact, the only time anyone thanked them was for things they did, not made. Like the time a couple of elves had kept Tooth company when a meeting had turned into a bit of a spat and she'd retreated to the rafters to fume about idiot males, or Jack thanking a couple for walking and jumping up and down on his back, working out a few kinks in his spine.

Huh. Well, that explained where the brownies had all gone, then. He'd figured they'd gone Underhill, or passed away, like the rest of the True Fae.

Several left Jack and stomped over to him. Aster crouched down after a second. He was used to being taller than most folk, but something about looming over the elves - or brownies, maybe - made him feel like he was going to tip over and crush them.

"Well," he said, and stopped. What was he supposed to say?

One of the elves waved a clipboard at him, and then held it up. There was one of those generic line drawings of a cut-out human, to the point where it was impossible to tell if the figure was supposed to be male or female. Aster's lip twitched into something that might've been the beginning of a smile, before he sobered and nodded.

"Something simple," he said, and pulled a drawing pencil out of his belt pouch. "Not gonna be doing anything athletic -" He hoped. "- so might as well have longer pants, below the knee but above the ankle. Stick with a vest, I don't need much."

He handed back the sketch of his ideas. If it didn't work out, he didn't have to wear it, and as long as they stuck to something simple it'd be fine.

The elves scanned the paper, nodding and muttering to each other. The lead elf slapped a hand down onto the clipboard and nodded up at Aster. They scuttled off after that, moving with confidence towards the shelves of fabrics.

"You realize they're going to embroider the shit out of your clothes, right?" Jack asked, sounding - and looking, when Aster turned to him - amused. He leaned sideways against his staff, one eyebrow quirked up behind his bangs.

"They're what?" He looked after the elves. "Why?"

"Because it's what they do. It's not like two pair of pants and two shirts are going to be a challenge, even with the fabric they'll use for you. They're sewing machines, Bunny, they'll have plenty of time to embroider."

"I hope not." Aster stood up. "We don't have to hang around?"

"They didn't ask for measurements?" He shook his head. "Then no, we don't. They probably measure by eye, anyways," Jack mused. "Wanna raid the kitchen?"

Aster rolled his eyes. "There's no need to raid the kitchen, Jack, we can just ask one of the workers for some tucker."

"Some... food, right? And where's the fun in that?"

Do not strangle the idiot, do not strangle him... Aster sighed. "Where's the fun in making off with three wheels of cheese and some salt? If you _ask_ , then you get what you _want_."

Jack frowned at him. "That was a highly specific example. Think up a lot of them?"

Aster settled for a smirk. "I'm feeling like shepherd's pie," he said. "What about you?"

"Do you even know what they make that out of? Sure, why not? And a glass of milk."

* * *

Aster found being swarmed by elves adjusting the fit of his new pants and shirt was much nicer than listening to Jack give a far-too-detailed explanation of the origins of shepherd's pie. Admittedly, the rant about how 'meat pies and casseroles are a side effect of the farm life back in the middle ages, time management, and making a little bit of meat stretch a whole two weeks' wasn't so bad. Rather slanted, selectively informative, and just a little too annoyed at people on the internet, but not so bad.

The original meat used in the shepherd's pie, however... well, there was a reason he didn't eat haggis and other such dishes, and he was nothing but relieved to hear the yeti made _their_ pie out of rib and back meat, instead of organ-bits.

Jack, having already been swarmed and escaped the mob, circled the crowd. "No, no belt, that'll make him look like a scarecrow," he told one of the elves, who whisked the strip of dark leather away like it'd insulted his mother.

"I like belts."

"Cross-wise looks better, your bandolier will be fine." Jack paused, eyebrows pinching together over his nose. "Is bandolier the actual, you know, term?"

"It's not wrong, if that's what you're after." Even he, with his long lifespan, couldn't remember any other name for that style of belt. It didn't matter, ultimately, and Jack was probably right. "How - hey, watch the pins! - how'd you learn about fashion, anyways?"

"Got suckered into a marathon of fashion shows. If I use the phrase 'use my editing eye' for any reason, smack me, okay?" Jack plucked an elf off Aster's shoulder, nodded, and put it back down. "Told you they'd do embroidery. It looks nice."

Nice, Jack said. Aster glowered at him, feeling rather put out about the whole 'clothes' thing. Jack had gotten away with a near duplicate of his hooded sweater, only difference being that this one fit more closely to his body, and dark brown pants with white embroidery up the outside of his legs. It was a cleaner, slightly fancier look than his norm, but still recognizably Jack, and not overly fancy or anything like that.

Aster though - he jumped when one of the elves poked him with a pin again, though it was clearly unintentional. The clothes they'd made him needed more adjusting, apparently because they were more used to human body shape than Pookan. The pants had been too long, and not wide enough to go properly over his knee, the waist had been too big... little things that they were fixing, but annoying.

"You do look good, though," Jack said, smiling encouragingly. For once, it didn't seem like the expression was put on for anyone's benefit. "People aren't going to recognize you."

Aster snorted. "Be hard not to. How many - oi! Pins! - how many people are gonna have _these_ , anyways?" he asked, and gestured at his ears. At least five elves immediately squealed at him to stop moving.

"Guys." The irritating winter spirit chuckled. "If you adjust the fit of those clothes any more, he won't be able to take them off. It's good, he looks good, and we kinda have to get going soon."

The elves all paused, and then went into a flurry of work. Aster hissed, but held still, and was rewarded with the elves abruptly getting off him. A good dozen of the little buggers looked him over, nodded, and then ran back to the stacks of fabric.

The sudden change had him almost staggering in shock. Jack caught him by the elbow and led him towards the full-length mirror. "Take a quick look," he suggested. "Then we can get going."

Aster frowned at him, but didn't protest. He'd just make sure nothing was out of place, though with the elves having done the work he doubted he'd need to adjust anything, and then they'd go. It wasn't like there'd be anything worth looking at in the mirror, since... ah...

Well. That was different.

The Pooka in the mirror looked as surprised as Aster felt, though the expression was slowly turning into a form of pleasure. Back - back when there'd been other Pooka around to compare to, Aster hadn't had an appearance to write home about. Not ugly, but not attractive either. The sort that would get called plain, he supposed. The Brotherhood clothing had added colour to his appearance, but it hadn't helped as much as he'd have liked. The contrast between his robes' rich greens, reds, and blacks, with his own gray and white fur... Well.

But this, this was different. The trousers, adjusted for his differently shaped legs, made his waist look narrower, his calves and thighs look more muscular, which wasn't a bad thing at all. The vest made his chest seem deeper and his shoulders broader, and the high collar drew attention to his neck and the healthy puffs of fur on his cheeks. The colours, a sandy buff for the vest and a darker tan for the trousers, worked with the green embroidered vines and his own fur to make the gray seem... better, somehow.

And for the first time in his life, he understood why humans painted their faces. He couldn't, but with the embroidery on the collar, his eyes were popping, the sudden focus of his face, everything else fading into secondary importance.

Aster blinked at himself. He actually - he actually looked _good_. Like himself, just... _more_.

"Yes, yes, you're a pretty princess," Jack mocked, though it didn't seem cruelly meant. "But I wasn't lying when I said we had to get going. Can you move in those pants?" He frowned down at Aster's knees. "They look kinda close-cut."

Good question. "Might be an idea to take a snowglobe," he decided. "Don't wanta run through my tunnels right now, don't think the elves took that into consideration for the getup."

Even Pookan-designed clothing had difficulty with that, so he wasn't that surprised. Still. Aster took one last look in the mirror, surprised all over again at the figure he cut, and then followed Jack out of the room. He took the lead after that, since he knew where North stored the snowglobes and Jack didn't.

In short order, Aster had the globe and primed it for their destination. "It'll be a mite bit warm," he warned.

"I'm okay with the heat, Bun, I just won't be frosting over any windows." Jack raised his eyebrows. "I mean, I was in the freaking Appalachians earlier, did you forget?"

"Mountains," Aster said, and shrugged. "Figured I caught you on a trip down from the peaks or something."

"Well, sorta. Freak snow in July next weekend." Huh, good to know. He'd have to avoid the area for the next little bit, the Easter Bunny getting caught on camera wasn't exactly how he wanted to reinforce belief.

He threw the snowglobe, and ushered Jack through. The sudden switch between the Workshop's controlled temperature and the party site's dry heat had him stumbling a few steps, before he adjusted.

"Not so bad," Jack decided. "At least it's a dry heat. So - oh. There."

 _There_ was at least an acre of land, roped off with flowering vines draped from post to post. There weren't any posted guards, but then again, only idiots would try to wreck one of Persephone's parties. And if people came to the party just to have fun, enjoy the crowd, well, it wasn't like she minded that.

"Right," Aster said, and cleared his throat. "Uh, let's go?"

Jack grinned up at him. "Don't worry, Bunny," he said, and sounded... fond. "I'll protect you from the evil people trying to talk to you."


	2. Chapter 2

Jack trailed Bunny to the flowering vines roping off the party grounds. There was a faun - or possibly a satyr, he couldn't tell the difference - standing at the 'gate'. Bunny flashed his invite at the minor spirit, and they were waved through, though not without a suspicious glare at Jack.

Jack smiled at the maybe-faun, and looked around. From the outside, the party grounds had appeared rather vague, like an empty field where he'd been expecting a house. From inside, they were clearly not the first arrivals, and there were tables everywhere, some with food, some with people sitting at them. Mostly spring spirits, as Bunny had warned him, though there were a few that were obviously associated with summer, or autumn, or one of the various elements. Hades aside, Jack couldn't make out any obvious winter spirits, so that was something, at least.

"C'mon," Bunny said. "Should say hello." He nodded towards Persephone, near the middle of the grounds, by the obvious dance floor.

Jack nodded, and eyed the host - and her husband - as they approached. "So, correct me if I'm wrong," he said. "But Persephone's the scary one, right?"

"She is."

"So how come everyone's giving Hades the wary expressions?" Sure, Hades was less... alive-looking... than Persephone, but still. All of Jack's knowledge of Greek mythology said Persephone was the one to call down hellfire and brimstone on people who irked her. Worst Hades had done lately involved sitting criminal souls down to watch a never-ending Barney-the-purple-dinosaur marathon as penance for their actions. It wasn't even on the same level as rolling a bolder up an endless hill. And yet he was the one everyone seemed freaked out about.

Bunny seemed to be fighting off a smile. "Persephone hasn't punished any troublemakers lately, and she don't look the type to be crushing her enemies underfoot, does she? Anyways, getting underestimated isn't a bad thing, and she cultivates it."

Jack considered Persephone more thoughtfully. She was almost as short as he was, maybe an inch or two taller, and appeared waifish next to her much taller husband. Her skin was the pale bronze shade currently in _vogue_ among Americans, the ones who wanted to look like they spent all day every day somewhere warm, lounging beside a swimming pool, but she'd been born with it. Pomegranate flowers grew out of her dark brown hair, and her hazel-green eyes were almost the same shade as the grass underfoot.

Between all that and the drapey, blousy clothing - some sort of golden, ankle-length dress with a much shorter, green skirt and a sleeveless top that kept falling off one shoulder - she looked a lot like a young girl playing dress up. At least until people noticed the flowers that grew around her feet and wherever she'd stepped, or the subtle aura of power, or any other number of little hints that she was no child.

Hades, meanwhile, looked a little like Lurch from the Addams Family, a little like a praying mantis turned human and stuffed into a badly fitting suit, and a lot uncomfortable. He was as pale as Jack was, only on him his skin looked almost gray. He was taller than Bunny, taller than North, but skinnier than Tooth was. He kept tugging at his suit collar like it was choking him. His eyes blazed, though, like they weren't eyes but instead windows into the heart of a volcano. Uncut emeralds sparkled from his cuff links, and another emerald glittered from his tie-pin.

Jack decided to compliment the Lord of the Underworld on his new haircut. It looked much better than the other one, and the style looked like it'd need less product to keep it neat. Maybe they'd avoid another fire, this time.

The crowd of spirits was watching them, he realized. Watching Bunny. Who was getting tense under their regard, shoulders squaring up and beginning to inch towards his ears. Right, right, he'd wanted company to... oh. Jack had meant it as a joke, but apparently Bunny really did need protection from the big, bad, evil crowds.

Guess he'd better get started with that.

Jack skipped forward, the unexpected movement drawing all attention on him. He grinned. Just as planned.

"Hades!" he crowed, and - after a bit of tricky staff work - shot finger-guns at the Lord of the Underworld. " _Wassap_ dude?"

It was like the entire party held its collective breath. It was _great_. Roughly four hundred people in one place and they were all thinking the same thing: _this kid's gonna die_.

Hades smiled. Several nymphs appeared to have heart attacks. The non-fatal, purely panic kind. "I believe that would be the sky. Although shortly, a space shuttle."

"True dat, my man." Okay, enough of that. "I love what you did with your hair. You should dye it blue, though."

"After the flames?" Persephone asked, shooting her husband a besotted, but teasing, look. Hades looked long-suffering, to those who knew him. Everyone else was freaking out just that little bit more. "I agree, that shade of cyan was particularly lovely with your skin tone."

"I am not dying my hair blue, love." Hades kissed Persephone's knuckles, and then nodded to Jack. "Welcome to the party."

"Happy to be here. Persephone, nice dress."

Judging by that smile, Persephone was delighted someone had noticed. "I grew the petals myself."

Petals? Jack eyed said dress, and then shrugged. Sure, why not?

"How did you get the flower to survive growing that big?" Bunny asked, stepping up beside Jack. The ensuing flower-talk quickly left Jack in the proverbial dust; he shared a world-weary, my-party-partner-has-weird-interests look with Hades, before resigning himself to standing around looking pretty. At least Bunny's conversation gave Jack plenty of time to look around and get a better idea for what was going on with the party.

Lots of nymphs, he decided, and fauns. Or satyrs. Really, what was the difference, besides alcohol tolerance? Or other things, Jack mentally added, eyeing one table that had... several goat-men and, well, bongs. Active ones. With green smoke. He really didn't want to know.

There were fairies as well, ranging from the lesser fairies - pixies, really - that were about as tall as Jack's hand, to the true fairies that were human-sized, albeit humans with giant butterfly wings. There was a handful of goblins hanging around with the true fairies, Jack noticed. The tallest goblin was looking indulgently awkward with two lady fairies hanging off his arms, one clearly romantically and the other... well, fondly, yes, but he doubted there was romance there.

Especially since that second fairy had just abandoned the goblin to pounce on a short guy. If humans had been part of the gathering, Jack would've figured him for a little person, human-style. As it was...

He spent a few minutes debating the short guy's species - probably not troll, even Norwegian troll, maybe some flavour of elf? - but was drawn back to Bunny and Persephone's conversation. Mostly because it ended.

Persephone looked over at the next person approaching, and Bunny started for one of the empty tables. Jack followed, free hand tucked into his hoodie pocket.

"So far, so good," Jack said, once they were seated at the table.

Bunny twitched. Actually full-body twitched. It was weird, and fascinating. Jack had never seen anyone start to leap out of their chair and then stop that quickly before.

"What - what was _that_?" Bunny asked, gesturing towards Hades. "You just - you - Hades! Are you starkers? I don't care how - how - he might not be _actively_ dangerous but he's still - and you just -!"

Jack leaned back in his chair, eyebrows reaching for his hairline. "Yeah," he said, tossing a bit of a grain-belt drawl into his words. "I did. Y'all seem to forget I'm, well, me." Bunny still looked confused. "Voice of Winter, remember?"

Ah, there was understanding... and gone again. "Hades is a _god_ ," Bunny said. "I don't think even the head of winter can outrank a god."

"Eh." Jack wagged his hand from side to side in a so-so gesture. "Sorta? I mean, he's a death-god in certain areas, and a god of shiny rocks too. And he's seen as a winter spirit in said areas. So he sort of falls under my authority, but also doesn't? Basically we don't push it," Jack said. "I'm casual with him, but I don't give him orders. He doesn't try to smite me for being casual. And I think he's... happy? Maybe? With someone other than Persephone not being scared spitless of him?"

Bunny looked doubtful, but settled back down in his chair. He looked around, but it seemed more like a prey animal checking for predators, sure there was something lurking behind a nearby bush. It seemed a bit of an odd reaction for a party, even considering Bunny didn't want to talk to people. It was a puzzle, honestly; why would someone as respected, as tough, as near-violently grumpy as the Easter Bunny be intimidated by a gathering of people?

Jack didn't really put much stock in gossip, but he did listen to it, for something to do if nothing else. But even gossip didn't touch on Bunny much, and the stuff that was about him wasn't a big deal. No enemies, no broken-hearted lovers determined to pull a Romeo and Juliet, regardless of if he was willing or not...

He considered the puzzle while Bunny got himself properly settled and at least somewhat relaxed. He didn't really reach any conclusion, but whatever the reason, it was probably just due to the size of the gathering. Some people were like that. Jack wasn't, but he did know people - and kids! - who were. Get them together with just one or two others, they were fine, but put 'em in a group? Nope. And this was a bigger gathering, for spirits.

"Hey, you want a drink or something?" Jack asked. Bunny twitched, this time like he'd managed to forget Jack was there. Or maybe he'd just realized Jack was staring at him.

"A drink?"

"We've got time before the shuttle launch, right? I can grab us some punch or something, maybe some snacks. That way we've got something to do that doesn't involve you having to talk to people."

Bunny squinted at him. "You like talking to people."

"Eh." Depended, really. "I don't really know anyone here except for Hades. And spring spirits, winter... Well, you know."

Bunny nodded. "I do know," he said, and smiled. "I'd love a drink, thanks. And anything fruit or veg."

"Sit tight," Jack said. There was a warm spot just under his diaphragm. Probably heartburn. It wasn't like he was feeling _fond_ of the overgrown rabbit or anything. He wandered towards the refreshment tables, and if there was a faint smile on his face, well, he _was_ at a party, after all.

He made sure to take a quick sample of punch before pouring two glasses. If there was any alcohol, he couldn't tell. Since he normally could - on occasion being a lightweight was actually good for something - he had to assume no one had spiked the punch yet. Or maybe no one would, at all? Who knew what spring spirits thought appropriate for a party?

Autumn spirits, and most of the winter spirits Jack knew, loved a good, alcoholic fruit punch. The more alcohol, the better. The less fruit, the better. The more dancing on tables... well.

Jack loaded up one plate with sample cups of a couple different vegetable dips, and as many different fruits and vegetables as he could find. Even some non-fish sushi ended up on the one plate. If Bunny didn't want any of that, Jack would have it. He'd gone hungry enough times, both as a human and during his early years as a spirit, that a bit of rice, seaweed, and what might've been pickle wouldn't scare him off.

His own plate had a bit more meat added to it. He had a particular fondness for those mini-hotdogs wrapped in pastry and deep fried. Jamie had introduced him to that one.

Jack balanced the two plates, two glasses, and his staff with practiced ease. Even so, there were a lot of spring spirits hanging around just... watching him. He could totally see now why Bunny got creeped out at these things, if these people did nothing but stare. Jack wasn't creeped out, per say, but the unrelenting regard did make him want to do something typically Winter to make them stop. Or at least give them an excuse.

Heck, those dryads weren't even trying to hide their judgmental stares. At least the next table over were pretending to drink out of their empty glasses.

Spring spirits. No subtly at all.

He was halfway back to the table, and Bunny, when he noticed the problem. Well, not a problem, as such. An annoyance.

Bunny, to anyone else, probably looked neutral shading towards annoyed. Jack, however, had just enough experience to know Bunny was anything but neutral, and that annoyance was probably covering the disquiet Jack had caught a glimpse of earlier. Bunny didn't like crowds, apparently, and here was a guy crowding him.

Not just a guy, Jack realized, but another winter spirit. His eyes narrowed, and his upper lip curled. It made him look like he was trying to look like an angry dog, never a good expression for anyone, but he didn't really care.

He continued on towards the table, wrestling his expression back into something more good natured in five steps. Maybe less. Bunny, clearly looking for him, caught sight and there was a moment of relief there.

Okay. Bunny was actually relieved to see Jack. Apparently he really, _really_ didn't like crowds.

Or maybe it was just the winter spirit trying to crowd Bunny. He was one of the glacier-whatevers. Jack never bothered to learn their names, when he ran across them. They came in exactly one flavour, which was interchangeable-idiot. Every glacier spirit had blond hair so pale it could easily be mistaken for white, except when next to someone who _actually_ had white hair. Every glacier spirit had light gray eyes. Skin tone tended towards red-head-pale, without the freckles. And they always wore pastel shades of green and blue, like ice sometimes got when the sun shone through it just right.

Their personalities were just as interchangeable as their appearance. They were always male. They always looked similar enough to Jack in build that he'd spent an entire century getting mistaken for one.

And this one was still. talking. to. Bunny.

Bunny, who was giving clear 'go away' signals.

Jack took a deep breath, and slid the plates and glasses onto a nearby table. "Watch these, please?" he asked, aware that there were people sitting at the table and... that was pretty much it. He had no idea who they were or what type of spirit they were or even what they said in response.

Then he took his staff carefully in both hands, stepped up behind the glacier spirit, and brought his staff down on the idiot's head in a powerful overhand blow.

Silence rippled out from around him as the partiers paused in their conversations, gawking openly at him. Jack smiled at Bunny, turned, and got his plates and glasses. He turned again, and brought them back to the table.

Beside him, the glacier spirit groaned and began to stir. "Wha...?"

"Hi!" Jack chirped, focusing on sounding manically cheerful instead of manically homicidal. Not that he was homicidal, much. But was it too much to ask for people to respect the word 'no'? Or maybe the words 'go away'?

The glacier spirit twisted and blinked up at him. "You?" he slurred.

"Sure am, Fred!" Jack tilted his head to the side. "Maybe you should go sit down. You don't look so good."

The glacier spirit touched the top of his head. "You hit me?" he asked, the concussion-slur clearing with expected speed. Glacier spirits were interchangeable, sure, but they were also as tough as the ice they spawned from. They could shrug off damage in ways Jack, even as the Voice of Winter and a spirit usually ten times their age, couldn't.

"Points for observation. You're still in the negative for lack of manners, but hey, anything to get you out of the hole, am I right?" Jack settled down in his chair, and grinned. Very manic. Lots of teeth. The glacier spirit twitched. "I'm here with Bunny. Me. As in not you. Go away now."

"Indeed," an unexpected, but hardly unwelcome voice said. Hades poked the glacier spirit with his toe. "If your actions led to an act of violence, clearly you have... overstepped your welcome. Haven't you."

The glacier spirit couldn't get any paler, exactly, but he did get a bit frosty in the cheek region. "I - uh - yes - going now."

Jack glared until the glacier spirit did just that, scrambling to his feet and staggering away. Towards the edge of the party field, even, and at that he relaxed. Just because he could overpower glacier spirits easily didn't mean he really wanted to. Especially not during a party. Especially-especially because they always ended up punching him in the nose, and he didn't really want to spend the afternoon bleeding.

"Jack?" Hades asked.

"Yes?"

"Next time? You can throw him out yourself." Hades inclined his head in a nod, which was the closest either of them ever got towards bowing or otherwise being respectful of each others' positions, and headed back towards his wife. Who was smiling, Jack saw, and he relaxed. If Persephone wasn't upset, he didn't have anything to worry about.

He turned back to his companion. Bunny stared at him, his eyes huge, and the food and drink Jack had brought him completely ignored. Jack wrinkled his nose. "What?"

"You just - is that how things normally get handled, then?" Bunny asked, waving vaguely at where the glacier spirit had been. "With smacking people over the head?"

Jack tilted his head, and then when Bunny didn't move for the food, helped himself to his plate. Yes, deep-fried mini-hot dogs. "Are you going to eat your sushi? Non-fish kind," he added, when Bunny looked down at said sushi. "And what do you mean, things? Things can cover a lot of, well, things. More specific, please."

"Winter things. For your duties." Bunny picked up a seaweed-and-rice roll - yes, Jack was fully aware there were proper names for the various types of sushi, depending on ingredient and presentation. He also didn't really care - and nibbled on it. "Do you start a blue every day with your people?"

With his...? "No," Jack said, and nearly pushed away from the table. "No, no, nope, nada, nyet, not my people. Ugh! Can you just imagine? I just ride herd if there's a group or if they're somewhere politically sensitive." Also... Jack stole a cucumber slice off Bunny's plate. "It usually doesn't come to an actual fight. That's what you meant, right? With the blue thing?"

Bunny finished off the sushi roll, and gestured with a carrot stick. "Yeah. Blue's a fight. Some of the time, anyways. And how do you mean they're not your people?" He looked annoyed, or at least his eyebrows scrunched down and his nose scrunched up. Probably most certainly annoyed. "You're head of the winter spirits, right? And they're winter spirits."

"They're minions," Jack said, and slumped back in his chair. "See, when someone says 'your people' they usually mean, like, I'm like them. And for whatever reason, I'm not. I think that's why Mother Nature picked me to keep 'em in line, anyways."

"But... winter?" Bunny asked, gesturing again with the carrot stick. He scooped up a gob of dressing, nearly getting his fingers coated in the stuff too, and ate the carrot in half a bite.

"I dunno. It's... hm. What's the difference between a goat and a sheep?" Bunny looked amused, and opened his mouth. "Just looking at the skeleton. What's the difference?"

"Sheep are a little stockier?" Bunny offered, sounding like he wasn't sure.

"Yeah. Well, some of them. But archaeologists hate those bones, because it's nearly impossible to tell, like, the... the ankle bone? No, it's the knuckle bone. They're pretty much the same, and a few other bones too. Especially looking back when they were first being domesticated." Jack spread his hands. "So on the inside, goats and sheep are built nearly the same, right?"

"For a given value of right." The rabbit was making inroads on his snacks. Good. "And what's this to do with winter spirits?"

"Goats and sheep are different on the outside. For me and winter spirits, it's flipped. It's our outsides that are nearly identical, and our insides that're different." Not that he'd ever given it much thought, before. He'd known there was a difference, and that'd been enough. Verbalizing it hadn't ever been a priority.

"Them?" he said, waving one hand at where the glacier spirit had stood. "They come in two types. The first type are primarily _something else_. Like Hades. He's god of the underworld and shiny rocks first, associated with winter second. Or they're a place first, or a ghost first, or whatever, and they just kinda fell into being part of winter 'cause that's when everyone encountered them and stuff."

Bunny nodded, following along. Good. Jack picked his words more carefully now, trying to take a feeling, one that was almost on the level of instinct, and explain it to someone who'd never been winter, and would never be winter.

"The other type is, like, winter first, last, and always. The first type? Sure, they'll be violent. But they're not _predatory_. Um. General Winter, for example. He's always, from first frost to last, looking for someone to kill. Always. You can talk to him, he can hold a conversation - some of the second type can't - but he's always going to be thinking of how to kill you, because you're taking up his attention. And if he's paying attention to someone, it's because he wants to kill them."

Bunny looked a little disturbed by that. Maybe he'd spoken with General Winter before. "And what about you?"

What about him? Jack picked at a tiny triangle of egg salad sandwich. "I'm... If the second type of winter spirit is a, a wolf, maybe, or a badger or something... then I'm a sheepdog. I'm winter only, I'm not associated with a mountain or shiny rocks or anything like that. But I don't have that drive to kill, if that makes any sense?"

"Maybe. Why do you think that is?"

Jack shrugged. "Maybe because, a lot of winter-first spirits are also associated with water. I drowned. I was brought back before there could be any ghost stories, or stories of people who went on the lake and the ice cracked but they got back safely. But I was also a person first. Most of the winter-first guys, they're an idea first, and then enough people believe in the idea to give them shape. I don't really know."

"Well." Bunny drew on his almost-empty plate with a stick of celery and some more dressing. "I don't know either, but to me it sounds right. And I don't think you'd be nearly as fun as a ghost." He looked up, almost through his lashes, and smiled.

Jack blamed the rush of warmth on more heartburn, brought on by too much fried food. "Aw, Roo," he crooned instead. "You're gonna make me blush."

"Hah!" Bunny finished his food, and looked around. "When's the shuttle prep starting, anyways?"

"What'd your invite say?" Jack looked around as well. "Wait, I think those guys are setting up a stage. Viewing platform or performance area?"

"Could be both."

* * *

Food eaten and non-alcoholic punch drunk, the spirits gathered along the one side of the party grounds. On the other side was the launch site. Far off, at least for Jack, humans were clustering around, taking pictures and film of the shuttle and of the first passengers.

He and Bunny made their way to the friend, aided in part by the respect all the spring spirits seemed to hold for Bunny, and Jack's pointy elbows. It was a little weird to be standing next to someone everyone seemed intent on staring at. Respectfully staring at, too. If Jack had been walking through a crowd of winter spirits, he'd either be ignored or salivated over.

Most of the predatory winter spirits had no problems with cannibalism. There were other reasons why they didn't normally gather, but somehow that one was always first to mind.

Bunny looked all tense, once they stopped at the front of the crowd. Jack frowned up at him, and then shifted a little, leaning over to the side against Bunny's arm. The rabbit twitched, and half-lifted his arm as though to shove Jack away. The movement had Jack leaning over even more, mostly accidentally, until he was nestled up against Bunny's side.

After a long moment, Bunny wrapped his arm around Jack's shoulders. Permission implied, Jack wrapped his arm around Bunny's waist, and hooked his thumb into the rabbit's bandolier. It wasn't uncomfortable, standing like this. He was exactly the right height for Bunny to rest his arm across Jack's shoulders, neither too tall nor too short. And Bunny, while he was warm and solid, wasn't too warm to lean against and his fur was a nice, soft layer over all the muscle.

How about that? They were standing next to each other, leaning on each other even, and didn't want to kill each other.

It was kind of nice. Even if it did involve touching.

Persephone waved at the crowed, and the crowd hushed. Instead of making a short speech, like Jack had been expecting, she just turned and watched the shuttle.

Jack leaned a little harder against Bunny as the whole thing started up. The humans must've been making their speeches while the spirits had been getting into the party atmosphere, because the passengers were filing onto the shuttle. The pilot - at least, a uniformed person - and his crew - more uniforms - led, joined, and followed, so the crowd of nicely dressed people were broken up by the blue uniforms.

Things got a little boring while the shuttle went through what were presumably systems checks. Jack mostly focused on Bunny for that part, the rabbit staring at the shuttle as though memorizing it, like he'd have to make a scale-model replica in twenty-four hours, as exact as physically possible.

Jack looked back at the shuttle when the engines caught, the sound not so much audible as physical. It shoved at him, and he'd have swayed except Bunny'd gone from muscle-solid to as steady as an old oak in a storm. The storm might roar - or in this case, the engines - but the oak wasn't going to budge.

He didn't know what Bunny saw, what any of the spring spirits saw, when the shuttle began to move. Jack saw the realization of a little kid's dream, though. Somewhere out there, someone who'd dreamed of walking on the moon one day was watching the shuttle begin to power down the runway, and know humankind was one step closer to just that.

One day, Jack knew, as the engine-roar changed pitch and the flying behemoth lifted off the ground once, twice, then for good. One day humans would regularly go into space, go to the moon, go to Mars, go beyond that.

He leaned harder against Bunny, and smiled. He couldn't wait to see it.

Bunny leaned back, warm and solid, eyes bright with what might have been hope, and teeth bared in a smile that was pure joy.

The warmth in Jack's chest had absolutely nothing to do with heartburn. He was okay with that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so, SO sorry it took this long to get the chapter written and posted. Uh, to quickly summarize, after I posted the first chapter, my (old) job went to hell in a handbasket, stayed in hell, and then I bailed and got a new job. Which, in a way, is harder than the old job, because more systems and more complicated issues, but in another way is easier because it's a company that believes in having a janitor clean the building every day, believes in paying their employees properly, believes in work/life balance and vacations and having enough employees that no one should be overworked.
> 
> Mind you, we are overworked because we are, actually, short staffed... but what a difference it makes! Instead of being 18 employees and there should be 25 total, it's 500 short of, what, 2000, FOR ONE DEPARTMENT. Not the entire company, one department, AKA mine. 
> 
> In other words, I'm slowly getting my writing mojo back. I might even be able to write after work, instead of just on weekends. We'll see!

**Author's Note:**

> Yes, new fic. This was supposed to be a one-shot.
> 
> It is not. If I can keep it to two monster-long chapters, I will. We'll see. Also, if anyone has suggestions for spring spirit names - either actual mythology or "low level nymphs and fauns and assorted" that'd be appreciated.
> 
> (Yes, I'm working on the other stuff, I promise, it's just... head. wall. multiple times.)


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